Commentary on al-Fil to al-Fatihah

Ê«¡dI« ÒÂ√ Ë√ W%UH« …—uÝ

The Opener or The Source of the Qur’an

It is also named Surah al-Hamdulillah, the Fatihah (the Opener) of the Book, the Protector

(ÔW?]O? «ÓuÚ«), the Healer (ÔW? ]O?U??]ý) and the Seven Oft-Repeated (w½U?? Ó¦? ÓLÚ« Ós?" ÏlÚ³?ÓÝ). There are

twenty beneficial points to note about it apart from what I have [already] mentioned in the

dictionary of terms [by way] of explanations of its words. There is disagreement as to

whether it is Makkan or Madinan. There is no disagreement that it is seven ayat, except

that ash-Shafici counts the Basmalah as one of its ayat and Maliki [scholars] drop it and

count [instead] “…You blessed them” as an ayah.

One: The recitation of the Fatihah in the salah is a requisite (ÏV? ł«ÓË ) with Malik and

ash-Shafici, as opposed to Abu Hanifah. His argument is his saying, may Allah bless him

and grant him peace, to the one he was teaching the salah “Recite that which is easy of the

Qur’an.”1

Second: There is disagreement as to whether the beginning of the Fatihah contains an

ellipsis [in order] to instruct the worshippers, i.e. “Say: ‘Praise belongs to Allah …’” or

whether it is the beginning of Allah’s speech. There must be an ellipsis in “You we worship…”

(e.g. “Say: ‘You we worship …’”) and what follows.

Ôb?ÚL? Ó×Ú« ‘the praise’ and from it Ïb? ?"U??ÓŠ ‘a praiser’ Ïb? O? L? ÓŠ ‘praiser/praised’ suggesting the fullness and

1
Ismacil ibn Kathir says in his Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim “Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on

him, inferred from this ayah, and it is *And recite what is easy for you of the Qur’an,’ (Surah al-Muzzammil,

ayah 20) that it is not individually a requisite [to] recite the Fatihah in the prayer. He supports his position

with the hadith ‘Then recite what is easy with you of the Qur’an (part of a mashhur hadith narrated by

al-Bukhari and Muslim). However, the majority of scholars reply with what is narrated from cUbad ibn

Samit, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘There is no prayer for he who does

not recite the Fatihah of the Book’ and the marfu c hadith of Abu Hurairah, ‘There is no reward of the prayer

of he who doesn’t recite the Umm al-Qur’an’ (related by Ibn Khuzayma in his Sahih).” Tafsir on Surah

al-Muzzammil, ayah 20, from Mukhtasar Tafsir ibn Kathir, vol. 3.

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 The Fatihah

intensity of that condition and yet also the opposite, the object of praise, and the superlative Ôb? ? ÓL? ? ÚŠÓ√

‘more or most ÏbOLÓŠ’, ÏœuÔLÚ×Ó" ‘praised’, Ïb]LÓ×Ô" ‘repeatedly praised’.

Third: Ôb? ? ? ? ? ?ÚL? ? ? ? ? ?Ó×?Ú« (praise) is more general and inclusive than Ôd?ÚJ?^A?« (thanks or gratitude),

because thanks and gratitude are only a recompense for a favour, whereas Ôb? ÚL? Ó×Ú« is both a

recompense like thanks and is also spontaneous praise. Similarly Ôd? ÚJ? ^A? « may be more

general and inclusive than Ôb? ÚL? Ó×Ú« because praise is expressed by the tongue, and thanks is

expressed by tongue, heart and limbs.

If you understand the universal nature of Ôb?ÚL? Ó×Ú« you will know that your saying t]K Ôb? ÚL? Ó×Ú«

requires praise of Him for His majesty, vastness, unity, might, bestowal of favours, knowledge,

ability and power, wisdom and other attributes, and that it encompasses the meanings of

His ninety-nine beautiful names, and that it requires thanking Him and praising Him for

every favour He has given and mercy He has bestowed upon all His creation in this world

and the next. What a word [it is] which gathers together that which volumes find difficult

to express, and the intellects of created beings concur upon as being unable to enumerate.

Let it suffice you that Allah made it the beginning of His Book and the conclusion of the

supplication of the people of the Garden1.

Fourth: Thanks with the tongue is praise of the Bestower of Blessings and speaking about

the blessings. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “To

talk about blessings is gratitude.”2 Thanks expressed by the limbs means to act in obedience

1
This refers to the supplication that the believers will make in the Garden, “Their prayer in it will

be ‘Glory be to You, O Allah,’ and peace will be their greeting therein, and their prayer will conclude,

‘Praise belongs to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.’” (Surah Yunus, ayah 10).
2
Part of a narration related by ash-Shacbi on the authority of an-Nu cman ibn Bashir that the

Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “He who is not grateful for a little

cannot be grateful for a lot, and he who is not grateful to people cannot be grateful to Allah [whereas] to talk

about blessings is gratitude, and leaving it is ingratitude (kufr). The community (jamacah) [leads to] mercy,

and dissension [leads to] debasement.” (Quoted by al-Qurtubi in his Jamic Ahkam al-Qur’an Tafsir cala Surah

Wa’d-Duha.

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Commentary on al-Fil to al-Fatihah

to Allah and to abandon disobedience to Him. Thanks with the heart is recognition of the

magnitude of the blessing and the knowledge that it is a gracious bestowal and not from

the slave’s own merit.

Know that the blessings which require gratitude cannot be enumerated, but they can be

expressed in terms of three categories: ● worldly blessings such as health and wealth; ●

blessings of the deen such as knowledge and carefulness (taqwa); ● and other-wordly

blessings, which are one’s being recompensed with much reward for few actions in a short

life.

People have two ranks with respect to gratitude: ● there is the one who shows gratitude

for the blessings which come to him particularly; ● and there is the one who thanks Allah

on behalf of all His creatures for the blessings which reach all of them.

There are three degrees of gratitude: ● the degree of the ordinary people is gratitude for

blessings; ● the degree of the elect is gratitude for blessings and for misfortune, and in

every state; ● and the degree of the elect of the elect is that they are absent from blessing

through witnessing the Bestower of blessings. A man said to Ibrahim ibn Adham1, “Who

are the best of men?” He reflected and said, “The poor who when they are prevented

(refused), are grateful, and when they are given something they prefer others to themselves.”

One of the virtues of gratitude is that it is both one of the attributes of The Truth2 [as well

as] an attribute of people, because one of the names of Allah is Ôd? 1U??]A« (the Recompenser,

literally: the Grateful) and Ô—u?ÔJ]A?« (the Fully Grateful), both of which I have explained in

the dictionary of terms (Ô—u??ÔJ?]A? « is the name of Allah, the One Who Recompenses His

slaves for their actions with plentiful reward. It has also been said [that it means] “The One

Who Praises the slaves”).

1
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Adham. He was at one point the Prince of the region of Balkh in central

Asia, but he turned to Allah and abandoned everything he possessed. Imam al-Junayd said of him, “Ibrahim

is the key to the sciences” and he is held in great respect, by all who have knowledge, for his exemplary life

and his incisive wisdom with respect to the states of man. He associated with Sufyan ath-Thauri.
2
^oÓ×Ú« One of the names of Allah.

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 The Fatihah

Fifth: Our saying, “Praise belongs to Allah the Lord of the worlds”, is better, according to the

people who ascertain [statements], than “There is no god but Allah” for two reasons: ●

one is that which an-Nasa’i narrated of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and

grant him peace, “Whoever says, ‘There is no god but Allah’ then twenty virtues will be

recorded for him, and whoever says, ‘Praise belongs to Allah Lord of the worlds’, has thirty

virtues recorded for him”; ● the second is that the tawhid that “There is no god but Allah”

requires is [already] present in your saying, “Lord of the worlds” and is increased [over and

above that] with your saying, “Praise belongs to Allah” and there [also] are the meanings in it

which we have already presented. As for the saying of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah

bless him and grant him peace, “The best that I have said, I and the prophets before me, is

‘There is no god but Allah’,”1 then that is only because of the tawhid which it contains, and

“Praise belongs to Allah Lord of the worlds” participates along with it in that [meaning] and

has increase beyond that. The believer says it seeking reward, but as for the one who

enters Islam then he is required to say, “There is no god but Allah.”

Sixth: ^»]d« (the Lord) has as its measure ÏqF? ? Ó with a kasrah on the cayn (the middle letter

so then it would be ÔVÐ]d«) but then it (the kasrah) was assimilated. Its meanings are four:

● the God (i.e. the One worshipped); ● the Lord; ● the Owner; ● and the One Who puts

right. All of these meanings are in “The Lord of the worlds” but the meaning of “the God” is

the most correct because of its being particularly for Allah, exalted is He.

Similarly the most correct meaning of Ó5?L?ÓU?? ? ? ÓF?Ú« (the worlds) is that every existent [thing]

apart from Allah, exalted is He, is meant by it so that it is in general, all created beings.

Also in the dictionary of terms, Ibn Juzayy said:

Ó5LÓU??ÓFÚ« is the plural of rÓU?? ÓŽ which according to the scholars of kalam (theology) is every
existent thing apart from Allah. It has also been said that Ó5?LÓU?? ? ?ÓF?Ú« are humans, jinn and
the angels, for its plural is the plural of those possessing intellect. It has also been said
“Humans in particular”, because of His words, “Do you approach the males of Ó5LÓUÓFÚ«?”2

1
Related in the Jamic of at-Tirmidhi, Kitab ad-Dacawat.
2
Surah ash-Shucara, ayah 165. These are the words of Lut, peace be upon him, addressed to his

people in which he condemns the lust of males for other males instead of their wives.

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Commentary on al-Fil to al-Fatihah

Ó5LÓUÓFÚ« ‘of the worlds’. Ó5LÓU?ÓFÚ« presents us with a thoughtful matter. rÓU?ÓŽ is a ‘world’ and as such

a neutral concept. One of its plurals is r«ÓuÓŽ, a broken plural and this has a sense of non-intelligent

and inanimate beings. The endings ÔÓÊË and  Ós?¹ represent sound plurals and are only used for

numbers of beings with intelligence, i.e. humans, angels or jinn.

Seventh: p?K?Ó" (King) is the recitation of the community (jamacah) and is without the alif

and it is [derived] from ÔpÚKÔLÚ« (the kingdom). cAsim and al-Kisa’i recited it with the alif (i.e.

p?U?? ? ? Ó" – an Owner1) whereby it has to be understood in the following manner “Owner of

the coming of the Day of Accounting” or “Owner of the affair on the Day of Accounting”.

The recitation of the community (King – Ïp? K?Ó" ), [however] has more weight from three

aspects: ● first, that the King is greater than the Owner since anyone can be described as

an owner of his wealth and property, but as for the King he is the Lord of men; ● the

second, His statement, “And His is the kingdom upon the day in which it will be blown into the

trumpet”2; ● third, that it (King) does not require an understood but missing phrase while

the other (Owner) does require it, since it has to be understood as “Owner of the affair” or

“Owner of the coming of the day of accounting”, and the ellipsis is contrary to the original3.

As for the recitation of the community, the genitive relation of the ‘King’ to the ‘Day of

accounting’ (i.e. “King of the Day of accounting”) is such as to give it the widest sense

possible. It treats the adverb [of time] (i.e. ‘Day’) in the same manner as the object, and the

meaning of it as an adverb is “the King on the Day of Accounting”, and it would be

acceptable for it to mean “King of the affairs on the Day of Accounting”, so that there

would then be an ellipsis in it. The two recitations have been related of the Messenger of

Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. p?K" has been recited in many different

ways which are, however, irregular (y–UÓý)4.

1
Derived from ÏpÚK" – possession.
2
Surah al-Ancam, ayah 73.
3
i.e. there is no alif explicitly written in the cUthmani mushaf and so it is not strictly required in the

recitation because it would then necessitate an ellipsis.

4
Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari notes the different readings of p?K" and rejects them as they have

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 The Fatihah

Eighth: sÓL? ?ÚŠ]d« rO?? ?Š]d« p?KÓ" are adjectives [of the divine name in the first ayah]. So if it is

said: “How can the word pKÓ" be in the genitive case when it is an adjective of the definite

noun [Allah] and the genitive construction of the active participle is not genuine?” Then

the answer is that it will not be genuine if it is with the meaning of the present or the

future, but as for this it is continuous, always, so its genitive construction is genuine1.

ÂÚuÓ¹ ‘of the day’

s¹=b« – ‘the reckoning’

Ninth: s? ¹=b?« ÂÚu? Ó¹ is the Day of Resurrection, and the following meanings of s? ¹=b?« are

fitting here: ● the Reckoning, ● Recompense, ● and Subjection, and an example of it (the

last meaning) is “Truly we are definitely overcome (or requited, taken to account)”2.

Ó„U]¹≈

Ó„ is ‘You’ and U]¹≈ is prefixed to it largely because Ó„ cannot stand alone like that.

ÔbÔ³ÚFÓ½ ‘we worship/slave for’.

ÔbÔ³ÚFÓ½ is, of course, derived from ÏbÚ³ÓŽ – a slave. “You we slave for!”

Tenth: Ó„U]¹≈ in both places is an object of the verb which follows it, and it is only brought

rejected by the ijmac of the community and the reciters. He sums up his discussion of the merits of both pK"

and pU" by saying that the former is the soundest reading by the virtue of the excellence of sovereignty and

kingship over possession as “ it is not possible to have sovereignty and kingship without possession,

whereas there can be ownership without sovereignty” so that the first reading includes both meanings. Jamic

Bayan c an Ta’wil al-Qur’an, vol. 1.

1
This specific grammatical construction of the Arabic where the active participle is both an adjective

describing the definite noun (Allah) as well as being in the construct state (W?ÓU?Ó{≈) is usually not admissible.

However, as the author says, since the participle Malik is not restricted by a specific time or tense, being in a

sense a ‘perpetual description’ of Allah, the active participle (q?ŽU?? ? ? ? r?Ý« in Arabic) can also take part in a

genitive construct with “the Day of Accounting”.

2
Surah as-Saffat, ayah 53.

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Commentary on al-Fil to al-Fatihah

forward1 in order to give the meaning of limitation (al-hasr), because the bringing of

words, which are governed syntactically by other words, forward [in the syntactical structure

of the sentence] requires limitation. The saying of the slave, “You we worship”, requires that

he worship Allah alone without any partner to Him, and his saying, “and You we seek aid

from”, requires an acknowledgement of incapacity and need and that we only seek aid

from Allah alone.

Ó„U]¹≈ÓË ‘and You’

Ô5F? ?Ó²? ?ÚCÓ½ ‘we seek aid [from]’ or ‘we estimate as being one who gives aid’. This is the tenth form of

the verb, which we can recognise with the ÓXÚÝ letters addition.

Eleventh: Ô5?F? ? ? ? ?Ó²? ? ? ? ?ÚC?Ó½ Ó„U??Ò¹≈ means that “we seek aid from You for worship and for all our
affairs”. In this there is a proof of the falsity of the sayings of both the Qadariyyah (extreme

proponents of human free-will) and the Jabriyyah (equally extreme proponents of predesti-
nation), and that the truth is in between the two2.

1
Ó„U]¹≈ is brought forward from the normal grammatical construction, which would be ÓpÔMOFÓ²ÚCÓ½ .
U]¹≈ is a particle of restriction or limitation (d?? ? ? ? ? ?ÚB? ? ? ? ? ?ÓŠ ·Úd? ? ? ? ? ?ÓŠ) which is used to provide emphasis to the
statement.
2
In this duca there is a position between the two extremes of total free-will and predestination, as

the slave acts and asks the Lord for aid and guidance, knowing that the affair is the hands of the Creator and

that Allah “does what He wills”. The correct position between the two extremes of compulsion (Qadr) and

free-will (iradah) was stated by Imam Jacfar as-Sadiq, may Allah be pleased with him, when he said, “There

is neither compulsion nor free-will, but rather something between the two”. These are not concepts that can

be limited by the extent of one’s own intellect, but rather are realities that are experienced in the human

situations individuals face day by day. To allow the intellect to judge in such matters is to ask the unattainable,

and many of the scholars of the past have frowned upon delving deep into such matters, not because of

what they are in themselves, but because they serve no practical purpose. Imam Malik, may Allah show

mercy to him, said, “Discussion concerning religious matters I abhor; and the inhabitants of our town

(meaning Madinah) have not ceased to hate it. I do not approve of discussion except with regards to that

which serves a specific practical purpose. As for [futile] discussion concerning religious matters and Allah,

silence is preferable to me; as I have seen the people of our town prohibiting discussion of religious matters

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 The Fatihah

Yet, as with Qur’an in general, the ayat which follow point out to us what the meaning of this

seeking aid is: “Guide us on the straight path”.

bÚ¼« ‘guide’ from the root ÈÓbÓ¼

Ibn Juzayy said in his dictionary of terms:

ÈÓb? ? ? ?ÔN?Ú« has two meanings: [firstly] directing to the right way and [secondly] making clear.
As for making clear, “Then as for Thamud, then We guided them”1 i.e. made clear to them.
Directing to the right way, may be [in the sense of] ● to the pathway, ● to the deen, ●
and the meaning of granting success, ● and inspiration.

UÓ½ ‘us’

Twelfth: UÓ½bÚ¼« is a prayer for guidance. If it is said, “How can believers seek guidance when

they already have it?” Then the answer is that “It is seeking constancy in it until death, or
increase in it, because ascending through the stations has no end”.

Thirteenth: He made praise precede supplication because that is the sunnah in supplication,

and the proper business in seeking is that it should come after praise, because that is more

likely to gain a response. Similarly He made the name “the All- Merciful” precede “the King

of the Day of Reckoning” because the mercy of Allah precedes His anger2. Similarly He made
“You alone we worship” to precede “and You alone we seek aid from” because it makes the

means [of gaining the favour] precede the object of need.

Fourteenth: Allah is mentioned in the beginning of this surah in the mode of absence (i.e.

as ‘He’) and then in the mode of address (i.e. as ‘You’) in “You we worship…” and what

comes after that, and that is named a sudden transition, and in that there is an indication

that the slave, when he remembers Allah, draws closer to Him and becomes one of the

people of the Presence so that he calls to Him3.

except for that which serves a practical purpose.” Kitab Tahrim al-Kalam by Ibn Qudamah, edited by G.

Makdisi.
1
Surah Fussilat, ayah 17.
2
As Allah says in a hadith qudsi, “My mercy has outstripped My anger.” Narrated by Ibn Majah. It

has also been related in various forms by al-Bukhari, an-Nasa’i, Muslim and at-Tirmidhi.
3
This is the indication shown in two hadith qudsi, that Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of

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Commentary on al-Fil to al-Fatihah

Ó◊«Ód=B« ‘the path’. It appears to have no verbal root1.

Fifteenth: Ó◊«Ód? ? ? ? =B?« in language is the pathway perceptible to the senses which is walked

upon, and it was later employed for the path which man is upon of [either] good or evil.

The meaning of ÓrO?I?Ó²ÚC?ÔLÚ« is the straight which has no zigzags in it. ÓrO?I?Ó²?ÚC?ÔLÚ« Ó◊«Ód? =B« is

Islam, and it has been said that it is the Qur’an, and both meanings are close together

since the Qur’an includes the laws of Islam, and both of them are narrated of the Prophet,

may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Ó◊«Ód? ? =B« has been recited with both ’ and ”

and also in [a sound] between ’ and “, and it is said that it was purely recited with “, and

the original was with the ” , but they only changed it for a ’ to agree and harmonise

with the ◊ in superiority and closedness. As for the “ it is employed in order to harmonise

with the ◊ in openness 2.

ÓrO?I?Ó²?ÚC?ÔLÚ« ‘the straight’ and which is translated even by the Arabs as straight, i.e. that which has no

crookedness or zig-zags in it. It is a very interesting word indeed.

Ór?O? ? ? ? I? ? ? ? ?Ó²? ? ? ? ÚC? ? ? ? ÔL?Ú« is derived from a root ÓÂU?? ? ? ? ?Ó which means ‘he stood’. It has a vertical rather than a
horizontal meaning. ÓÂU?? ? ?ÓI? ? ? Ó²? ? ? ÚÝ« which is the tenth form derived from that root, by the kind of logic

Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as saying that Allah, exalted is He, says, “I am with My

slave when he remembers Me and his lips move with My name,” related by Ibn Majah and al-Bukhari and

“I am in My slave’s opinion of Me and am with him when he calls to Me,” and it is in the Jamic of

at-Tirmidhi.
1
Verbal roots – Arabic words in the dictionaries generally go back to actions, for example, he

laughed, he thought, he did, etc. Allah’s statement is that “He taught Adam the names, all of them” (nouns

not verbs). We only have to look at a highly significant set of name-words, which are called in Arabic

—ÓbÚBÓ", pl. —œU?ÓBÓ" , which are what we would know as verbal-nouns or nouns of actions, i.e. they are names
of actions such as ‘doing’, ‘writing’ and ‘laughing’. In reality a vast number of ordinary nouns or name words

such as »UÓ²1 – a book and XÚOÓÐ – a house, can be seen as coming from verbal nouns, respectively UÎÐUÓ²1 and

UβÚOÓÐ , so that they could be rendered as »U?Ó²1 – a writing, or even, a writing to someone (as a verbal noun of
the third form of the verb, i.e. ÓVÓðUÓ1 ), and XÚOÓÐ – a spending of the night.
2
Openness and closedness here refer to the manner of pronunciation.

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 The Fatihah

which Arabic works by, gives the sense of ‘he sought to stand’1. The ÔÂ generally signifies ‘one who’

or ‘one which’. By this route we arrive at ‘the one which seeks to stand’. Slightly more elegantly

some people have expressed this hint by the English words ‘upright’ or ‘upstanding’.

Nevertheless, without any doubt, ÓrOI?Ó²ÚCÔLÚ« means straight. The straight path is the clear sharicah of
Islam and of all the prophets. Yet Allah does not leave us wondering about what this path might be,

for He now describes three paths, one of which is the straight path and two of which claim also to

be straight paths but are most definitely not. If you don’t understand an ayah then look to the next

one to see if it has some clarification.

Ós¹c« Ó◊«ÓdR “The path of the ones whom…”

ÓXÚL? ? ?ÓFÚ½Ó√ ‘You have blessed,’ being the fourth form of Ór?FÓ½ ‘he was joyful’. Bless and bliss are related
in English just as ÓrÓFÚ½Ó√ ‘he blessed’ and ÏrOFÓ½ ‘bliss’ are in Arabic.

ÚrNÚOÓKÓŽ ‘upon them’.

Sixteenth: Úr?N? ? ? ? ? ÚO?ÓK?ÓŽ ÓX?ÚL? ? ? ? ? ?ÓF?Ú½Ó√ Ós? ¹c?« Ibn ‘Abbas said: “They are the prophets, the sincerely

truthful ones (Ó5I¹=b?R ), the witnesses (¡«Ób?ÓN?Ôý) and the right-acting ones (Ó5×U??ÓR).” It has

been said that they are the believers, and it has been said that they are the Companions,

and its has been said they are the People of Musa and cIsa before they altered [their deen],
but the former is the more weighty because of its universality, and also because of His

saying:
Ó5×U]B«ÓË ¡«ÓbÓN^A«ÓË Ó5I¹=b=B«ÓË Ó5=O³]M« Ós" ÚrNÚOÓKÓŽ Ôt]K« ÓrÓFÚ½Ó√ Ós¹c« ÓlÓ"
“…with the ones whom Allah has blessed of the prophets, the sincerely truthful ones, the witnesses
and the right-acting ones…”2

So we have an outer and an inner description of the people on whose path we want to be guided.

But how about those whose path claims to be the right one and which we must avoid? Allah says,

“… [the path] of other than those on whom is wrath and not of those astray”.

1
The tenth verbal form in Arabic denotes to ask or to desire something, or to think of something as

such and such.

2
Surah an-Nisa, ayah 69.

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Commentary on al-Fil to al-Fatihah

dÚOÓž ‘other than’

»uÔCÚGÓLÚ« ‘the angered’.

Here we have no choice but to follow the route of sarf to the decoding of this word and the phrase

that it is in.

ÓVC? ?Óž ‘he was angry’ and ÏV{U?? ? Óž ‘an angry one’ so that Ï»u?? ?ÔC? ? ÚG? ? Ó" is ‘an object of anger’ i.e. it is a
ωuÔFÚHÓ" or passive participle.

ÚrNÚOÓKÓŽ ‘upon them’

So that ÚrNÚOÓKÓŽ »uÔCÚGÓLÚ« are the ‘angered upon them’, the recipients of anger, the objects of anger.

ÓË ‘and’

Óô ‘not’

Ó5=U]C« ‘the strayers’.

“And not [the path of] the strayers”.

Seventeenth: the inflection of »uÔCÚGÓLÚ« dÚOÓž is that it is an appositional substantive standing

in for a substantive clause1, and it is unlikely that it is a qualification because its genitive
construction is not special and it stems from a definite noun. When it is read with the nasb

(i.e. Ód?ÚOÓž which indicates the accusative) it denotes exception (i.e. “rather than the …”) or the

present tense.

Eighteenth: the ascription of the blessing “upon them” is [made directly] to Allah (i.e. “…the

ones You blessed”) whereas the doer of the anger is not mentioned out of tactfulness and

courtesy, as in His saying, “And when I become ill, He heals me.” 2 The first Úr?N? ? ? ? ÚO?ÓK?ÓŽ is in the

1
That is to say it stands in for “the ones You have blessed” i.e. “the ones You have blessed [who

are] not those on whom is the anger.”

2
Surah ash-Shucara, ayah 80. These are the words of Sayyiduna Ibrahim, peace be upon him. Ibn

Juzayy says by way of tafsir on this ayah, “He attributed the illness to himself and the cure to Allah out of

courtesy to Him” meaning that he did not say, “When Allah makes me ill, He heals me.” This stems from a

deep and natural understanding of tawhid. When Allah mentions His blessings He includes Himself in it

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 The Fatihah

accusative position and the second in the nominative position.

Nineteenth: ÚrN? ÚOÓKÓŽ »u??ÔC?ÚG? ÓLÚ« (the ones with anger upon them) are the Jews and Ó5=U?? ]C«

(those astray) are the Christians; Ibn cAbbas, Ibn Mascud and others said that, and it has

been narrated from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace1. It has been

said that it is universal with respect to everyone who has anger upon them and every one

astray, but the first statement is more weighty for four reasons: ● its narration from the

Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and because of the majesty of the one

who said it; ● the mention of “…and not…” in His words “…and not those astray” is an

indication of the different natures of the two parties; ● “anger” is a description of the Jews

in many places in the Qur’an, such as His words, “… and so they returned with anger from

Allah”2; ● astrayness is a description of the Christians because of the disagreement of their

sayings about cIsa ibn Maryam, peace be upon him, and because of the words of Allah

about them, “…they strayed before and led many astray and strayed from the right path” 3.

Twentieth: this surah gathers together all the meanings of the Tremendous Qur’an and it is

as if it were a summary copy of it, so consider it – after studying the sixth chapter of the

first introduction – and you will realise that with respect to ● knowledge of the Divine,

that occurs in His words, “The praise belongs to Allah the Lord of the worlds, the Merciful the

Compassionate”; ● and the abode of the hereafter in His words, “King of the day of reckoning”;

● and all acts of worship, both in terms of beliefs and the judgements required by the

commands and the prohibitions in His words, “You we worship”; ● and all of the sharicah in

His words, “The straight path”; ● and the Prophets and others in His words, “The ones You

have blessed”; ● and mention of the groups of the kuffar in His words, “not the ones upon

directly saying, “The ones You have blessed” and when speaking about His wrath He, exalted is He, does

not say, “and not the ones You are angry with” but rather “the ones on whom is the anger” leaving direct

mention of Himself out of it.

1
By Ahmad in his Musnad and at-Tirmidhi.
2
Surah al-Baqarah, ayah 90.
3
Surah al-Ma’idah, ayah 77.

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Commentary on al-Fil to al-Fatihah

whom is anger nor those astray.”

Conclusion: It is commanded to pronounce aameen at the conclusion of the Fatihah by

way of a supplication for what is in it. Your saying “aameen” is a verbal noun whose

meaning is “O Allah answer!”. It has [also] been said that it is one of the names of Allah. It

is permitted to extend the hamzah (i.e. 5"¬) or to shorten it (5"Ó√) but it is not permitted

to double the meem (i.e. either 5?="¬, or 5?="Ó√ ). In the salah let the one who follows the

imam, the one who prays by himself and the imam pronounce the aameen in the prayers

said silently. There is a disagreement about the prayers said aloud1.

“Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the All-Merciful, the Compassionate, King of the
Day of Reckoning.
You alone we serve and You alone we seek aid from.
Guide us on the straight path, the path of the ones You have blessed not [the path of] those upon
whom is anger nor [of] those astray.”

1
Malik, taking his proof from the cAmal Ahl al-Madinah, states that the ameen is said to oneself in

prayers said both out loud and silently. Ash-Shafici notes in his Kitab al-Umm that the people following the

Imam do not say the ameen out loud whereas the Imam does. Abu Hanifah’s position is similar to that of

Malik on this point.

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